Read a very inspiration article written by Alyson Stanfield at the Art Biz Blog about failure. Alyson definition of failure:
“I believe the only failure is not trying your best.”
How many of us can say we always do our best in all things? Striving for perfection, yet knowing we are all human and make mistakes, is always the best way to go into a business or start a new product. Don’t you agree?
Based on Alyson’s definition, mistakes or errors are NOT failure — like most of us think! Mistakes are just part of life and explore new options to pursue.
Another of my favorite quotes on the subject, by Katharine Graham:
“A mistake is simply another way of doing things.”
Did you know that by our standards, Thomas Edison “failed” 1000 times before he perfected some of his famous inventions — like the light bulb! Edison is considered as one of the greatest inventors of all time, yet, he “failed” or made numerous “mistakes”. Here are some of his quotes on the subject:
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were 
to success when they gave up.”
“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work”
“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
“If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.”
Learning from our “mistakes” is they way we progress. Early in our gourmet food production days, we introduced several products that just did not sell well. Here are a few of them:
- Huckleberry Mustard and Dipping Sauce
- Pepper Vinaigrette
- Chardonnay Lip Balm
- Medicine Chest Massage Oil
- PMS Soap Products
And if you read my story on Starting Our Own Gourmet Food Business, you’ll know that our Rocky Mountain Wild Game Sauce bombed!!
So what did this teach us? Some things work and some do not! As my husband says, “Throw all the ideas on the wall like spaghetti, and go with the ones that stick!!” No mistakes, just lessons learned!
So go out there and don’t be afraid to make mistakes … after all, they are just another way of doing things!!
2 comments for “What is Failure …. Really?”